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THE GRAPE-VIIE BORER: 

IN 

A COMMUNICATION ON THE GRAPE-VINE, 

BY DR. E.' MITCHELL, 

IN THE RALEIGH REGISTER FOR APRIL 5, 1854. 



My friend Dr. Francis J. Kron, of Stanly county, coming to attend the 
annual commencement at tbe University in June last, brought with him a 
bottle of worms and bugs, which he supposed to furnish the means of deter- 
mining the cause of the ill success of such attempts as have hitherto been 
made to cultivate the European grape in the United States. It is well known 
that the peach tree is greatly injured, and frequently destroyed, by a small 
worm that establishes himself about the crown of the root, or just below the 
surface of the soil, and preying upon the soft inner bark, at length breaks 
up the communication between the root and leaves, so that the tree dies. 
The insect into which the worm is finally transformed has been named iEge- 
ria Exitiosa, the latter or specific part of the name, of course, having re- 
ference to the mischief he produces. 

Dr. Kron supposed himself to have ascertained that a similar pest, ano- 
ther species of the genus iEgeria, attacks the root of the European grape 
when planted in America, causing the vine to become feeble, sickly, and un- 
productive in the first instance, and finally to perish: also, (which is even 
more important,) that he had a remedy. We had some years since, as a 
member of the Faculty at the University, a gentleman to whom all such 
questions might be referred. There is no Entomologist amongst us now, 
and the bottle having been left with me by Dr. Kron, to be disposed of as 
I might judge best., I coulc think-efrlothing better to be done with it, than 
to send it to the gentleman at Cambridge by whom the report on the insects 
injurious to vegetation in Massachusetts was drawn up, Dr. Thaddeus W. 
Harris, formerly Lecturer on Natural History, and at present Librarian at 
Harvard. 

Along with the new iEgeria, as Dr. Kron judged it, and as it proves in 
fact to be, — in its different conditions of larva, pupa and imago, or perfect 
insect, — there had been put into the bottle, for comparison, somo specimens 
of the kind that infests the peach; also, a Saperda. Dr. Harris, finding 
these old acquaintances of his, pronounced too hastily upon the whole con- 
tents of the bottle — that it contained nothing new; but his attention having 
been called to it a second time, he found, on a re-examination, a new iEgeria. 

These details will shew that Dr. Kron has not offered his views for publi- 
cation, without having first availed himself of every means at his command 
to assure himself of their correctness. Both of the following papers appear 
to me to be excellent in this kind. Dr. Harris made the best possible use 
of the materials with which he was furnished, and the investigations of Dr. 
Kron are a model of that caution, keen and accurate observation, and intel- 
ligent inference from the facts observed, which such inquiries demand. Cer- 



tain statements corroborative of his views will be found subjoined to the pa- 
per of Dr. Harris. The paper of Dr. Kron having been drawn up in De- 
cember last, one or two expressions in it are out of date, but it has been 
thought best to let them stand. 

Stanly County, N. C. 
To all Cultivators of the Grape- Vine in the South: 

Search the roots of your grape-vines (between now and spring is the best 
time in the South to do it,) for should you find the roots of your vines in- 
fested with a grub-like insect, resort, in the spring, to grafting on the wild 
muscadine, white or black, as the only means of ensuring success in the cul- 
tivation of the grape among us. * 

There is an insect which, in the larva state, very much like a grub, feeds 
on the roots of all the varieties of grape so far cultivated in this country, 
those of native origin as well as those introduced from foreign countries; 
none being spared except the scuppernong, or muscadine, white or black. 
That the insect has been seen by others heretofore, there can be no doubt, 
though nothing satisfactory has, as yet, been published in relation to the same. 

The grub in question, of a dusky white, often over an inch in length, and 
of the thickness of a goose-quill, may be found at any time of the year, along 
the whole course of a root however long; and the wasp-like butterfly of which 
the grub constitutes the larva, or one stage of its existence, multiplies so 
fast that, where once found, the utter extermination of all cultivated grape- 
vines, in spite of every effort to preserve them, will sooner or later be their 
fate, unless averted by grafting on the only variety of grape, our muscadine, 
the immunity of which from the attack of the insect is well ascertained. To 
be sure, if an unrelenting war be waged against the insect, when it has as- 
sumed the shape of a butterfly, from June to September, so as to prevent or 
diminish the laying of the eggs, much may be done towards saving the vines 
and the crop; but such a course, exceedingly laborious where it can be pur- 
sued, as in isolated situations, would be ineffectual in a town or a neighbor- 
hood where the chase was not universally carried on. And moreover, in al- 
most all situations, there is a chance for a plentiful supply from the vines in 
the woods. As for pursuing the insect in its grub state, that is out of the 
question; for nothing less than pulling up nil the vines, with all their roots, 
and throwing them in the fire, could be at all relied on. 

The earnest attention of all lovers of the grape, whether for wine or for the 
table, is therefore demanded to point out this their common and truly chief 
enemy. From resuls obtained there can be no doubt that the vine grub is 
the main cause of the failure of all attempts heretofore made to produce the 
grape among us on any extended scale. For many years trials have been 
made, from Virginia to Alabama, to introduce that species of culture as much 
for its own peculiar inducements as in order to free us from dependence on 
foreign supply. Everything indeed seemed to invite to such efforts; the soil, 
the climate, the configuration of the country, the prosperous growth of na- 
tive vines in places about, the partial success in isolated spots, or with single 
vines; all, in a word, did urge us on to make a beginning in what proved so 
profitable in other countries. Yet, in spite of the length of time since the 
trials were commenced, not a spot in the Southern States can be pointed out 
where disappointment has not checked the further prosecution of grape plant- 
ing. We hear of failures in every direction, and almost every imaginable 
cause but the true one has been assigned for the miscarriage; the soil has 

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been charged with wanting the proper elements, the climate with being too 
inconstant, the mode of culture as being erroneous: one was said to prune too 
much, another not to prune enough; no body looked at the roots where the de- 
stroyers were at work underground whilst experimenters were speculating on 
causes, all on the surface. The failure, particularly with the finer sorts of 
foreign grapes, has been so general that of late the importation of plants of 
foreign grapes has been a dead loss to adventurers; nobody being found will- 
ing to purchase. An idea has even gained ground that we must resort to our 
woods and be resigned to cultivate native varieties, be they as they may. 
Hence some have confined themselves to the Catawba Grape, certainly a 
native; others to the Isabella, supposed by some to have originated in North 
Carolina; but neither sort, any more than the foreign grapes, is secure from 
the depredator. The Isabella seems particularly a dainty' bit for the grub. 
The only exception is the Scuppernong; all other grapes, sweet or sour, of 
spongy or compact wood, of woody or soft inner bark, are certainly destroy- 
ed, though those of spongy wood and soft inner bark greatly in preference. 

Will the writer be pardoned for introducing his experience which led to 
the facts now published? The same ardent wish now prompting him to this 
communication, namely to reproduce among us the choice varieties of the 
grape, which in their perfection are among the finest gifts of Providence, 
had induced him many years ago to attempt, with his own hands, the culti- 
vation of those sorts which he had seen so abundant and so fine from the 
banks of the Hhine to the shores of the Mediterranean, from the region where 
the peach will not ripen to where the orange matures in open fields, on soils 
to which ours are at least equal and in climates of which we in the South 
possess the parallel, with rather a higher temperature on our side to mature 
the choicest sorts, unaided by walls or artificial heat. The failure of others 
did not dissuade him from making the attempt. He flattered himself that 
by practising upon what he had seen done abroad he might succeed where 
others had failed. And truly, at first, the success was so complete, the wood 
and the fruit of many foreign sorts ripened so satisfactorily under bis man- 
agement, that, in the joy of the result, he was inclined to think he had found 
the way to manage the thing, and that all really depended on the mode of 
training. But the joy was not long lived. The most flourishing vines one 
after another became drooping, the foliage seemed sickly, the wood did not 
ripen sufficiently for another crop, the fruit, though setting well, would rot 
or blight on the canes, and the vines themselves successively die. Still, as 
the vines had done so well at first, neither soil nor climate could be charged 
with the disaster. Charging therefore the mode of culture, short pruning, 
with the agency of the mischief, the recommendations of those who asserted 
that the vines on this side of the ocean required free scope in their growth 
was now acted on; all new younger growths were allowed to extend almost 
at pleasure. The first years they did nearly as well as those which had been 
vigorously pruned, and the/ree scope plan seemed to be the true plan for us. 
But, alas! disaster came as before, and the last method proved no better than 
the first. The pursuit was about to be given up, when accident shed on the 
previous failure a light, which has made stronger than ever the writer's con- 
fidence that the grape in all its varieties may be produced among us as per- 
fect as in the most favorable climates. 

On pulling up, in the spring of 1850, a vine, the foliage of which was 
withering, the roots were found as if gnawed off. On further search they 
were seen to be hollowed out and reduced to a mere shell of bark filled with 



the fresh gnawings of an insect. The latter was now sought fur and spesi- 
mens enough of an ugly whitish grub were soon found from the extremities 
to the very origin of the roots at the trunk of the vine. The grub, though 
much larger and whiter than the larva of the insect which annoys the peach 
tree, yet resembles it so much, that at first it was thought to be the same, 
somewhat modified by the plant it fed on. On extending the search, other 
vines were found infested, and the more as they were more drooping and 
perishing. The conclusion was now unavoidable, that this same grub had 
been killing the vines, and that neither soil, climate, nor mode of training had 
any agency in the mischief. To solve the question whether this was a mere 
modified larva of the peach insect or of an insect altogether different, num- 
bers of apparently, full grown larva were put in a glass jar along with cocoons 
that were found ready formed in the roots; and behold, the naked larva 
formed gluey cases for themselves in the jar, and after a while, in July, out 
of the cocoons taken from the roots, and out of the cases formed in the jar, 
there issued alike, not the peach insect, but a yellowish brown butterfly, so 
much like a wasp, that seen under other circumstances, one would have 
been afraid to touch it. 

Having thus come in possession of the final shape of the insect, a few 
minutes' ramble among the vines sufficed to identify numbers of specimens 
on the wing and at rest, but mostly disporting among the leaves or as if in 
quest of something, none of them feeding on anything whatever. Thence- 
forward daily observation led to nearly a full knowledge of the history of the 
insect. From 8 A. M., to 4 P. M., is the only time they can be seen on the 
wing. The greatest number appear at about IP. M. Their season is from 
the middle of June to the middle of September. Their whole object in the 
butterfly state is the perpetuation of the species. The males arc smaller than 
the females and greatly more numerous. They seem to have special ren- 
dezvous to which the males always resort first, and wherever the mules resort 
a female may be expected; they seem almost to know beforehand where a 
female is to appear above ground; indeed merely touching a female is enough 
to cause the males to settle on one's hand. The insect is readily caught, par- 
ticularly tho females when just evolved from their pod; they are then too 
heavy for flight; as many as 400 eggs have been taken from one of them. 
The eggs are laid anywhere, on anything on the surface of the ground, and 
at any distance from the trunk of the vine, though eftener near to the trunk. 
Later in the season the young grubs can be detected along the small roots, 
gnawing their way under the bark towards the trunk, which, by evolving 
time, is pretty well shorn of all its roots, large and small, and if new roots 
have not pushed out above the infested ones to keep the vines alive for an- 
other season, the plant must die the same year. 

An insect so disseminated over the whole area in which the vine grows is 
of course not to be destroyed by anything you apply merely to the trunk of 
the vine; it would indeed require application over the whole surface of the 
ground. But what can that be which so applied would prove fatal to the in- 
sect? Not lime or potash even in their caustic state, for the bark, under 
which the grubs advance protected, shields them from the action of the caus- 
tic, and in fact, vines have been killed with the lime and the potash when 
the grub escaped unhurt by either. 

With the exception of the Scuppernong, every variety of grape cultivated 
— and the writer cultivates many sorts, though but few plants of any — was 
found infested with the grub. At first the insect could not be detected in 



the vines in the woods, but since it has been found even in vines such as the 
winter grape, which, on account of their compact wood, close thin bark, and 
harsh juices, would have seemed most likely to be spared. The thrift of the 
Scuppernong in the midst of such universal decay was so remarkable, that 
at one time it was suspected of being the cause of its neighbors' languor; 
some Chasselas and Miller's Burgundy seemed starved to death. On taking 
up the Scuppernong after the discovery of the grub, not a fibre was found 
injured, — its legion of all invading roots, interwoven with the roots of other 
vines dying from the insect and not from the vicinity of the Scuppernong, 
were found untouched. 

The hint was plain; if the Scuppernong could serve as a stalk to graft the 
other sorts upon, the insect would be foiled, the remedy would be discovered 
along with the evil, and we might yet expect to see in America, growing at 
the cottage door as well as on the rich man's arbor, those splendid clusters 
of grapes, the very sight of which, in Europe, commands admiration. The 
trial made on a wild muscadine resulted in all that could be desired; fifteen 
months after the graft was inserted, ripe Chasselas of Fontainbleau grape, the 
berries of whkb, though not the clusters, would not have been disowned at 
Thomery, were gathered from a vine the root of which is a native Carolina 
muscadine, grafted a few inches above the ground. So net only did the 
graft stick and grow the first year, but bore perfect fruit the next year, and 
is firmly united now, exhibiting above the characters of the Chasselas and 
below those of the muscadine. From that time every variety cultivated by 
the writer has been grafted successfully on our wild Scuppernong; the Herbe- 
mont and wine grape not less readily than the fine Chasselas and Muscat for 
the table. . 

A doubt may still occur to some as to the diffusion of the insect; some may 
think it confined to this locality, on the Yadkin near the mouth of Uwharee, 
among the hills of Stanly and Montgomery. But on referring them to the 
Patent Office Rep., Agriculture, for 1850-'51, page 448, they will there find 
W. L. Morton, Esq., from Cumberland county, Virginia, stating that "vines 
should be transplanted the 2d year, as large ones become wormy and die," 
and moreover that all his foreign vines died in a few years in spite of all 
care. It will be seen also by the subjoined note of Dr. Harris, that in 1830 
the same insect here introduced to notice was seen in Georgia and figured by 
Mr. Abbot. So there can, unfortunately, be no doubt as to the diffusion of 
this plague in the Southern States. 

However, the writer solicits inquiry: let the evil be ascertained, and if 
present, the remedies are at hand: 1st, kill the female insect before they lay 
their eggs; but 2d and best, graft on wild muscadine from February to April, 
by common cleft grafting, a few inches above the ground, with cuttings 
saved in a cold, shaded place till that time. Care must be taken not to let 
the cutting above the point of union strike root, or the muscadine send forth 
canes, which would defeat the object of the grafting. By waging a war of 
extermination against the insect, killing both males and females as long as 
the season lasts, from the middle of June to the middle of September, the 
result will be a revival of drooping vines, the ripening of the wood for ensu- 
ing crops, and the regular growth and maturation of the fruit. Such result 
has been obtained even after one season of persevering chase. Fruit has 
again been obtained which had failed to come to perfection during an inter- 
val of many years. White Muscat and Black Hamburgh have shown again 
what they can be among us when the grub is not at work, and have fully 



6 

vindicated North Carolina soil and climate and mode of cultivation from all 
manner of reproach. But such perseverence must not be omitted for one 
season, as such omission would be certain to renew the evil. Hence graft- 
ing on the muscadine is the better plan; by it the insect is baffled, the vine 
saved, and a world of trouble avoided. 

It seems that the vine grub is a plague of our own. Careful inquiry has 
failed to discover any mention of anything like it in Europe, as the mere 
fact of the flourishing vineyards in that part of the world might naturally 
have led to expect. It is a plague which can be easily transmitted by send- 
ing large rooted vines abroad, and which ought therefore to be carefully avoid- 
ed; nothing but cuttings ought to be sent or received. F. J. KRON. 



Cambridge, Mass., Nov'r 21, 1853. 
Note upon the insects injurious to the roots of the cultivated grape-vine in 
North Carolina: By Thaddeus W. Harris. 

It is well known that the peach tree suffers much from the attacks of an 
insect that burrows under the bark of the roots and bark of the trunk. An- 
other insect allied to this is very destructive to the best kinds of pumpkin 
and squash vines, by boring through their roots. In like manner, the roots 
of cultivated grape-viues in some of the Southern States are found to be 
much injured by similar insects, which prevent the ripening of the fruit, and 
finally cause the decay and death of the vines. The insects above referred 
to, though not absolutely identical, have many points of resemblance in all 
their stages, and in their habits and transformations. They are different 
species of one and the same genus, called yEgeria by naturalists of England 
and America, and Sesia by those of France and Germany. The peach tree 
insect has been described and figured in the second volume of Mr. Say's 
American Entomology, under the name of yEgeria Exitiosa. The species 
that infests the roots of the pumpkin and squash is called yEgeria Cucurbi- 
tas, and was first described in the New England Farmer for Aug. 22, 1828. 
This yEgeria of the grape-vine does not appear to have been described; but 
there is a rude figure of it in its adult or winged form, in an unpublished 
collection of drawings made by the late venerable John Abbot of Georgia, 
in the year 1830, and now in the possession of the writer of this note. 

To ]3r. F. J. Kron, of Albemarle, North Carolina, who has paid much at- 
tention to the cultivation of the grape-vine, we are indebted for a complete 
discovery of the history and transformations of the destructive insect that 
infests the roots of the most valuable varieties of this vine, and for the means 
of arresting its depredations. He has favored the writer with samples of the 
injured roots, and with numerous specimens of the insects in all their forms, 
accompanied by a request for a scientific name, and a description of the spe- 
cies, — which are herewith furnished: 

The iEgerians appear under three different forms. The first is that of the 
larva, which is the form and condition of the insect when it is hatched from 
the egg, and during the whole of its growing state. The iEgerian larva, 
sometimes improperly called a worm, is a whitish, plump and grub-like crea- 
ture, provided with horny jaws, and with sixteen extremely short feet. It is 
while it remains in its larva or grub-like state that the insect does all its 
mischief. Being at this time very voracious, it increases rapidly in size, and 
comes to its full growth in less than a year, and many species in the course 
of a few months. At the end of its growing state, the larva encloses its body 
in an oblong oval pod or cocoon, formed of fragments of bark or of wood, or 



particles of earth, cemented by a small quantity of viscid matter. In the course of 
a few days, while still lodged within its cocoon, it casts off its larva skin, and appears 
in its second or chrysalis form. The chrysalis is much shorter than the larva; it is 
of a shining brown or mahogany color, and spindle shaped, and blunt at one end, 
and abruptly tapering at the other; its limbs are immovably soldered to its breast; 
the rings of its hind body are surrounded with transverse rows of minute teeth, and 
the tail is also generally beset with a few larger teeth or short spines. When the 
time approaches for the last transformation of the insect, which commonly occurs in 
the spring or in the early part of summer, the chrysalis breaks a hole through 
one end of its cocoon, and, by the help of the transverse rows of teeth and the spines 
of its tail, it forces its body half way through the opening of the cocoon. Immedi- 
ately after it has so far liberated itself, the skin of the fore-part of its body splits 
open, and from the fissure there issues a six-legged wasp-like creature, provided 
with four narrow and flabby wings, which soon dry and become fitted for flight when 
the insect has made its way to the light and air. The winged JEgerians fly only du- 
ring the day, at which time also they seek and couple with their mates. The males 
delight to bask and spread their tufted or fan-like tails in the warm sunshine, during 
which also the females may be discovered laying their eggs. The foregoing short 
and general account of the transformations of the YEgerians will prepare the reader 
to understand the more particular description that follows: 

The grape-vine JEgeria, in its winged or adult form, might, at first sight, be mis- 
taken for the brown wasp of the South, called Vespa (Polistes) nigrapennis, by De Gur, 
being somewhat like the common insect in form, size and color. Upon examination, 
however, it will be found to belong to a different order, having a spirally rolled 
tongue instead of jaws, mealy scales upon its body instead of a naked horny skin, 
and a tuft at the end of its tail, instead of a sting. Its resemblauce to this wasp 
suggests for this species the name of JEgeria Polistceformis, or the Polistes-skaped 
iEgeria. There is sometimes a striking disparity in the size, color and markings of 
the sexes of the iEgerians. This is particularly observable in the species that comes 
from the peach tree, the males and females of which differ so much from each other 
as to have been mistaken for different species. Although the two sexes of the grape- 
vine iEgeria do not differ so greatly from each other, there is much disparity in the 
size, and some variation in their color. The specimens sent by Dr. Kron have been 
somewhat injured, and hence the following description may not correspond exactly 
to fresh and uninjured specimens: 

The body of this iEgeria is of a brownish color, more or less tinged with tawny 
orange on the back and sides of the female. The thorax and two of the )fings of the 
hind body are edged with yellow. The neck and shoulder covers of the male are 
tawny orange or saffron colored, as are also the feelers or palpi, the tip, base, and 
lower side of the antennae, and the legs, in both sexes; the middle of the upper side 
of the antennae, and the lower side of the thighs and of the shanks are of the steel 
blue. The fore wings are dusky and opaque; the hind wings are transparent, with 
black veins, margins, and fringes. In both sexes there is a short tawny tuft ou each 
side of the tail; besides which the male has two intermediate, longer, yellowish tufts, 
or pencils of hair. 

The body of the male is from five to six-tenths of an inch long, and his wings ex- 
pand from one inch to one inch and three-twentieths. 

The body of the female varies from six to nine-tenths of an inch or more in length, 
and her wings expand from one inch to one inch and a half. 

Considerable difference will probably be found in the dimensions of the insect in 
its previous forms. The larva or grubs submitted to my examination were from one 
inch and one-quarter to one inch and three-quarters in length; and the chrysalis 
from three-quarters of an inch to rather more than one inch in length. 



The late Br. Caldwell after traversing that part of France where the finest vines 
are produced, and passing down the Rhine, was desirous of seeing the cultivation 
of the grape introduced into North Carolina, and undertook to make himself the 
necessary experimental trials. He procured from M. Parmentier, of Brooklyn, Long 
Island, rooted vines of choice varieties, that had been imported from France, to the 
amount of between one and two hundred dollars, and had them planted according to 
directions with which he was furnished. His vineyard received the most careful at- 
tention, and the results of the first year were of the fairest promise. The vines took 



X ■ Mill llllilinniiii "!■'-■■"■- " -_ Q q, 

002 812 478 8* 

on a rapid growth — some attained a height of ten, ,««», were or 

corresponding size or diameter, and full of health and vigor. At the close of the 
first summer, Dr. Caldwell had the highest anticipations of complete success. A 
paper of his, giving an account of what he had done, and what the prospect was, at 
the time, may be found in the Register of that day. The experience of the second 
year did not correspond to that of the first. Some grapes of rather indifferent quality 
■were obtained, but the vines did not flourish as in the preceding summer. The whole 
proved in the end a total failure, and the stock of vines procured by him has proba- 
bly by this time died out altogether, or if not, they have at least been abandoned as 
worthless. Now. the difficulty is to account for the discrepancy between the results 
of the first and the succeeding years. During the first summer, there was every in- 
dication that the soil was of the right kind, and the climate genial to the varieties 
of grape that were under culture. Why then did they sicken and fail so soon after- 
wards? The suggestions of Dr. Kron seem at least to furnish a solution to the enigma. 
If a new species of iEgeria, new to naturalists, a native insect, attaches itself of pre- 
ference to the European vine, and feeds upon it, it is easy to see how Dr. Caldwell's 
vines may have had a vigorous growth during the first summer, and have failed al- 
together at a later period. It was not till near the close of the first summer, or in 
the course of the next following, that the effects of their depredations would be seen. 
The insect supposed to be the cause of the mischief may be more abundant in some 
parts of the country than in others, — about Demopolis, in Alabama, for example, 
where an attempt, that was wholly unsuccessful, was made under the patronage of 
the General Government, to introduce the culture of the grape, by the agency of the 
French colonists some years since, then at Vevay, in Indiana, where emigrants from 
the Pays de Vaud, in Switzerland, did accomplish something. 

If any one shall judge it improbable^ that we should have in America a native in- 
sect, which after having propagated itself and lived upon some native grape for in- 
numerable generations, at length, as soon as a foreign grape is introduced, abandon? 
its old victims and lays hold of the new comer in such numbers and with such an 
appetite as utterly to destroy it, it may be said in reply, that it is but another in- 
stance of what is witnessed in the iEgeria of the peach, the Curculio of the plum, the 
bug (Bruchus) of the common garden pea, perhaps also of the cornfield pea, (though 
this last pea may have been borrowed from the Indians,] — all of which are natives, 
were unknown to Europeans on their arrival on the western shore of the Atlantic, 
and now seem to confine themselves, very much, if not exclusively, to trees, fruits, 
and seeds that were introduced from Europe. 

With regard to the remaining point in Dr. Kron's paper, that the new iEgeria, 
though it seeks eagerly when in the larva, or grub state, the roots of the European 
vine, will avoid those of the muscadine, it is to be recollected that whilst some in- 
sects are nearly omnivorous, so far as green vegetables are concerned, others confine 
themselves, if not to a single plant, at least to plants amongst which there is a very 
intimate resemblance. The locust of the East sweeps everything before it; no green 
leaf of whatever kind escapes. The Saperda which was along with the other insects 
in the bottle sent to Dr. Harris, prefers greatly the hickory; whose small limbs he 
cuts off in great numbers, so as to strew the ground under the tree with them in the 
fall of the year. But if he happens to be driven off by a storm, or to wander in any 
way from the spot where hickories are to be found, he will make use of the persim- 
mon, the honey locust, and, as Gov. Owen told me he had observed in his own garden, 
on the quince. The Muscadine departs so widely iu all the characters of its growth 
and wood from other grapes, that there is no antecedent improbability in the idea, 
that a worm which eats their roots with avidity, may turn away, and refuse to toueh 
those of the other. 

Dr. Kron, it will have been seen, does not desire that his views shall be received 
and his plans adopted without due examination. But believing that he has fallen 
upon some facts that are both new and likely to prove valuable to his fellow-citizens, 
he offers them for publication, hoping that some persons, who take an interest in 
such things, will assist him in these investigations — so that the truth will at length 
be ascertained. The time may come, when the vine-clad hills of North Carolina will 
be spoken of as familiarly as those of France are now. 

E. MITCHELL. 



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Conservation Resources 

V !_ I? -J» T.,n« I 



